Lawyer: Woman lacked strength to carry out bat attack

This photo, supplied by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, shows Linda Dolloff, a 47-year-old woman who has been arrested in connection with the Easter morning beating of her husband at the couple's home in Standish, Maine.(AP Photo/Cumberland County Sheriff's Office)

The Associated Press

Posted April 21, 2010, at 12:45 p.m.

PORTLAND, Maine — A Standish woman accused of attacking her husband with a baseball bat and then shooting herself to make it look like a home invasion lacked the strength to carry out the brutal attack on the larger man, her defense lawyer told jurors Wednesday.

Linda Dolloff, 48, is under 5-foot-5 and weighs 120 pounds, while the victim, Jeffrey Dolloff, is 6-foot-2 and weighs more than 200 pounds, Daniel Lilley said. Furthermore, there’s DNA from an unknown individual on the handle of the bat used in the attack, backing up her claims, he said.

Assistant District Attorney Anne Berlind said Linda Dolloff was angry because her husband wanted her out of the house so he could bring another woman home to meet the family. Dolloff also harbored hopes of reconciling with her husband, even though they were in the process of divorcing.

Linda Dolloff faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder. She’s also charged with elevated aggravated assault and filing a false police report.

Story continues below advertisement.

Jeffrey Dolloff, 54, doesn’t remember anything from the attack in which he lost most of his teeth and suffered facial fractures. Officers responding to the scene didn’t think he would survive.

Linda Dolloff called police early on April 12, 2009, to report an intruder and assault. But Berlind said the 911 call didn’t make sense because Dolloff made conflicting claims to the 911 operator about whether there was an intruder and whether anyone had been shot.

Lilley said there was no motive to attack because a divorce agreement would’ve entitled the defendant to $100,000 and an apartment next door to the home. He also said that if Linda Dolloff wanted to hurt her husband it made more sense to use a gun instead of a bat.